Astronomy Picture of the Day 6-28-02

NASA ^ | 6-28-02 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

[petuniasevan]

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2002 June 28

Lunar Module at Taurus-Littrow
Credit: Daniel D. Durda (SwRI), Space Imagery Center, LPL, Apollo 17

Explanation: Can the Hubble Space Telescope take a picture that shows the Apollo lunar modules on the Moon? With its 2.4 meter diameter mirror, the smallest object that the Hubble can resolve at the Moon's distance of around 400,000 kilometers is about 80 meters across. So, from low Earth orbit even Hubble's sharp vision can not image the Apollo lunar module descent stages, at most a few meters across, left behind at the lunar landing sites. A space telescope over ten times the size of Hubble could ... or a much smaller telescope in close lunar orbit. In fact, this picture does just resolve Apollo 17's Lunar Module, Challenger, and its shadow on the floor of the Taurus-Littrow valley in the Moon's Mare Serenitatis. It was taken in 1972 from the Apollo 17 Command Module, America, orbiting about 100 kilometers above the Moon's surface and covers an area about 1.1 kilometers wide. Using a web site created by Dan Durda of Southwest Research Institute, armchair astronauts can explore orbital views of this and the 5 other Apollo lunar landing sites.

[petuniasevan]

It will be 30 years come December since we last set foot on the moon.

Get on the APOD PING list!

[petuniasevan]

APOD PING!

[farmfriend]

Oh, yeah. I could tell that's what it was just by looking at it.

Sarcasm aside, I'm still mourning the loss of a real hero. Dr. Karl Klager. He made the fuel for the 3,4,&5 stages. He did all our rocket fuels. This country gained much when he came and lost much with his passing.

[farmfriend]

Here is a link to a brief history of Rocket fuels.

[RightWhale]

That's the Lunar Lander is it? What's left now is just the descent stage, which would make a light spot and shadow about half that size. All the same, that's about the best image I have seen of an artificial object on the moon taken from anywhere except the surface.

[chance33_98]

Hey, isn't that a face....

[Joan912]

As always, thanx for the ping! :)

[boris]

"Sarcasm aside, I'm still mourning the loss of a real hero. Dr. Karl Klager. He made the fuel for the 3,4,&5 stages. He did all our rocket fuels. This country gained much when he came and lost much with his passing."

Us rocket guys say, "propellant", not "fuel". Fuel is usually one-half of propellant.

Apollo used no solid fuels except on the escape rocket. It was powered by liquid oxygen, kerosene (RP-1), and liquid hydrogen. I do not believe Dr. Klager had any part in any of those substances.

--Boris

[farmfriend]

As I said before, he had the patent on the 3,4 and 5 stages. I know nothing of propellant or fuel. I do know he had over 150 patents. All for propellants or fuels or whatever. This was documented.

The obituary I have from the Sacramento Bee says:

"After emigrating to the United States, the Austrian-born chemist became a world-renowned pioneer in rocket propellants, inventing key ingredients to fuel the Polaris, Minuteman, Titan, Gemini, and Apollo engines and achieving most of those breakthroughs at Aerojet in Rancho Cordova.

Along the way he descovered and developed ingredients for solid and liquid rocket fuel that became industry standards, according to a NASA history of rocketry.

Dr. Klager received the U.S. Navy Distinguished Public Services Award in 1958 for his work on the Polaris missile."

There are quotes in the obituary from Jerry Lewelling. Check the link I provided earlier and do some research. His wife, Elizabeth, has moved to the Tacoma area to be with there son. He was a dentist in the Army now retired.

[boris]

"As I said before, he had the patent on the 3,4 and 5 stages. I know nothing of propellant or fuel. I do know he had over 150 patents. All for propellants or fuels or whatever. This was documented. The obituary I have from the Sacramento Bee says: "After emigrating to the United States, the Austrian-born chemist became a world-renowned pioneer in rocket propellants, inventing key ingredients to fuel the Polaris, Minuteman, Titan, Gemini, and Apollo engines and achieving most of those breakthroughs at Aerojet in Rancho Cordova."

The obit is simply wrong, and/or the obit writer is sorely confused. Polaris and Minuteman used solids. All of the others used conventional liquid fuels. No 'fuels' had to be 'invented' to run any of NASA's spacecraft. Kerosene, liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen, various nitric acids, such as nitrogen tetroxide, Red Fuming Nitric Acid, Inhibited Red Fuming Nitric Acid. Various versions of hydrazine such as UDMH, MMH, etc. Maybe this guy invented "Aerozine 50"--a mix of UDMH and hydrazine (as I recall). It is no longer in use.

--Boris

[farmfriend]

Ya didn't read the links did you? Dr. Klager was part of the German contingent that was working on liquid fuels at the end of WWII. He had 16 patents in Germany alone. I'm sure they were all for liquid fuels.

At Aerojet, he used a cast, case bonded polyether-polyester-polyurethane composit with 15 percent aluminum and anunonium (whatever the heck that is) perchlorate.

I know it is unusual for someone to work in both liquid and solid but I assure you he did and if you just researched it you would find that.

[farmfriend]

"Karl Klager, who is credited with the development of HTPB, was asked how he came to develop this low-cost, low-viscosity propellant that has become an industry standard. He said only that he started development in 1961 but waited until 1969 to propose the propellant to NASA for the Astrobee D and Astrobee F sounding rockets on which it flew successfully. Perhaps, however, Klager's response regarding how he came to discover unsynumetrical dimethythydrazine (UDMH)(whidh is a liquid propellant used on the Bomarc missile, Titan 2 missile, Titan 3 and Titan 4 rockets, and other missiles and rockets) applies equally to HTPB. Klager said that he simply brought his knowledge of the science of chemistry to bear on the need for a propellant. He had earned a PH.D. in chemistry from the University of Vienna in 1934 and had worked for several chemical firms in 1931 to 1948 before moving to the United States and starting work for Aerojet in 1950."

J D Hunley
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
Edwards, California

[farmfriend]

Maybe this guy invented "Aerozine 50"--a mix of UDMH and hydrazine (as I recall).

No, he invented UDMH.